http://www.fired4u.co.uk en-gb fired4u.co.uk 2010-8-31T00:00:00Z fired4u.co.uk http://www.fired4u.co.uk/page31.htm#73373 Maggie who I follow on twitter is a lady who has an art and craft blog with great ideas she also sells her art work. She asked me to write a guest post for her blog using clay or air hardening clay preferably. So visit here to read how to make coasters with clay or air hardening clay or salt dough and how to use all sorts of things to create patterns in the clay. I was chuffed to be a guest writer and grinned all day when it went live imagine my grin when this guest post was picked up and linked on to a daily newspaper on the internet see here to read it. We featured here at the Sunday showcase party Let me know if you have ago at making these coasters. 2010-8-21 19:28:48 http://www.fired4u.co.uk/page31.htm#72611 Last week was an amazing week so I thought Id share it with you. On Monday we had a group in from Mosaic community care who provide support for challenged young children to young adults ranging from autism to physical disabilities. They booked art and craft sessions daily for 2 weeks with us. This was the beginning of their second week. They were using foam clay to coat wooden figures designing the clothes as they coated them. So Mel and Ciara were looking after them and other customers whilst I had the pleasure of going to Astley village community centre to entertain 15 disabled children age 1015yrs with a wide range of disabilities. They loved painting the mugs I provided them with and couldnt wait to put their names on. I returned mid lunch time to the studio unloaded the car and caught up with the activities there. We had a gentle stream of customers all day and the Mosaic group painted animal money boxes after lunch then added decorations to their wooden people before going ho... 2010-8-11 21:00:59 http://www.fired4u.co.uk/page31.htm#71018 One Monday early in July Mel and I set off and found our way to Altham St James C of E Primary School.Prior to this exciting day I had sketched out a Wind in the Willows design onto 60 tiles to make a picture which is going to be mounted in the School entrance. Each tile was numbered so they could be put back together in the right order. We started off with 37 Juniors divided into work groups to add detail to the more intricate areas surrounding the main Characters Toad and his hall Mole and his underground house Ratty in his boat and river bank house and Badger looking from his burrow. The big Willow tree formed another group and the cheekynaughty Weasels another. The children instantly drew added details onto the designs talked about colours to use and how the tiles in their group would fir back together to make a continuous picture. Here are the Juniors concentrating on the design session After morning break we got down to the painting af... 2010-7-22 12:08:24 http://www.fired4u.co.uk/page31.htm#69321 Hi today was the last Mini Potters session until 2nd September. The children had fun after playing together putting our jigsaw of the world together. This shows us where all the animals in the world live and today we wanted to know where Giraffes live. Our Mini Potters saw that Giraffes live with lions hippopotamus and Elephants in the big country called Africa. We had a story called Tall all about a baby monkey trying to be taller by standing on top of other animals until he was so high on the giraffe he fell off thankfully his mummy was near by and caught him so he did not hurt himself Phew Then we made Dancing Giraffes. I was inspired by Maggie who has a craft blog see here at RedTedArt for Maggies version. We missed out the paints as we dont have that much drying time in the session and swopped paint for coloured paper and lots of glue. We had pre made the legs and neck and cut all the bits out for the Mums to be able to help the little ones assemble the giraffes. Once the gir... 2010-7-1 14:21:14 http://www.fired4u.co.uk/page31.htm#68873 So the Children from Belarus arrived last Monday and I have only now found time to tell you all about it. We My husband and I were so excited on Monday we had to find ourselves jobs to fill in the time to keep us occupied. At 1.45pm I dropped him off at the meeting point for those going to collect the children from the airport and I went off to do the food shopping. Shopped via the list and managed to drive off from the supermarket without getting cream for the strawberries Went to the corner shop and had to be shouted back as I left it on the counter. Hastily unpacked it all checking the mobile for a text finally it arrived arrived safely all well on the way to the welcome tavern I jumped on the kitchen floor and shocked our cats. An hour until they arrive. finally I went to the welcome Tavern and was on the way in when I heard a noise and there was the bus dashed back to the car for the camera and went to meet the children. I tried very hard not to cry but they were runnin... 2010-6-26 11:50:44 http://www.fired4u.co.uk/page31.htm#68413 So I woke up this morning stirred a bit and shouted They are coming tomorrow and so is Alina good job my husband was awake. His reply was Are you sure because for months you have said oh they are coming soon and they havent appeared Yes I am sure tomorrow is the tomorrow they are arriving I said. I felt so EXCITED I scrunched my self up and wiggled about with a grin the width of my face. So its tomorrow Monday 21st June 2010 at 3.15pm ish to be precise our 14 children will arrive from Belarus where they live in the chernobyl radiation affected areas read my previous post for more info. Most will leave home tonight and board a train just after midnight with a parent to make the journey to Minsk airport to fly to us tomorrow afternoon a journey of 8 hours of more for some just to get to the plane Our Alina will meet them at the airport. Alina is a wonderful person who this time last year was just a name lady aged 24 called Alina who would be staying with us and being the parent gu... 2010-6-20 12:59:02 http://www.fired4u.co.uk/page31.htm#68138 This Blog is not about my pottery studio or what we do but about me and what I do in my spare time. I volunteer with a local Charity group called Medicine amp Chernobyl UK South Ribble group I am also the fund raising coordinator. We collectively aim to raise 1631214000 per year to bring a group of children from Belarus who live in the radiation affected areas from the nuclear power plant explosion at Chernobyl 24 years ago. In brief the children live with radiation in the air they breathe the water they drink and the food they eat this all has an affect on their health from causing very weak immune systems to childhood cancer to cancer in early late 20s. I will at some point may be write about their lives or the new found problems with the long term radiation in their lives and what we do to try and help. We bring over a group of 14 children to stay with the families in our group for a month it has been proved that living in clean air yes here in Preston with clean food and w... 2010-6-16 22:04:16 http://www.fired4u.co.uk/page31.htm#67078 Today found me waking up knowing I was going on BBC Radio Lancashire in the afternoon on the live show with Sean McGinty to talk about my Fired 4 U Blog and pottery painting of course. I felt excited and nervous all at the same time. Once at work I was straight into a Birthday party and then planning what we needed for the Hen party tonight so that took my mind off my radio appearance a bit. Sean found us listed in the creative bloggers section of httpblogpreston.co.uk and invited me onto his Saturday afternoon summer show. Would I please take something for him to paint so he could have a go he asked. So off I went this afternoon armed with a large pint size mug paints and brushes and spare plates and brushes as of course theres no sink in the studio to use for washing your painting tools as you go along. I left Mel looking after the studio so I could go out. Once settled into the recording part of the studio Sean introduced me and Fired 4 U talking about Blog Preston whic... 2010-6-5 19:01:02 http://www.fired4u.co.uk/page31.htm#66075 A few weeks ago I took a Call from BBC radio Lancashire would I go on air and do clay hand prints with Brett Davison on the tea time show He was covering the news of Anton Du Beke having a fitting a Louis Tussauds at Blackpool and want to create an impression of himself live on air too So of course I said yes. I prepared before going by rolling out the clay in advance to make life a bit easier It took me 2 gos to roll out a piece of clay big enough as I am so used to doing babies from 7 days upwards never done an adults and certainly not a lovely man from Yorkshire with big hands So big infact the clay just fitted on my drying boards with not much to spare. Brett was a delight to meet and we did great impressions of his hands in the clay. They dried out nicely then I fired them. Brett then came down to the studio so watch me paint them up whilst he interviewed me asking how I got into doing Fired 4 U. Brett of course got hooked on Fired 4 U and returned to collect his finished ha... 2010-5-25 11:23:32 http://www.fired4u.co.uk/page31.htm#64693 Mini Potters today had great fun celebrating Spring. After the usual play time introductions songs and a story about a butterfly we got up to the tables and made a paper craft butterfly and painted pottery butterflies. Here is how we made the craft butterfly. You need a lolly pop stick pipe cleaner coffee filter paper or strong paper towel or absorbent type paper crayons and some glue and scissors Take the pipe cleaner and fold in half then glue one side of the pipe cleaner from fold to half way up the pipe cleaner to the lolly pop stick. Leave to dry Take the coffee filter paper and cut an indent out of either side like the point of a heart to give the paper wings some shape. Then colour patterns on with crayons. You can look at pictures of butterflies to give you inspiration for designs on the wings or just go art crazy and see what happens. Colour both sides so when your butterfly flies it looks great from either side. Alternatively you can wet the filter p... 2010-5-6 14:14:48 http://www.fired4u.co.uk/page31.htm#63907 Sunday 25th of April was a big event for Fired 4 U we were attending the Croston Arts Festival the first of its kind. It started off as a celebration with a village school and art and escalated to all sorts of art activities and events taking place all over the village. So on Saturday when the last customer left the studio I loaded up the car with all the pottery and paints and then table and chairs and the important bucket to wash up in and bottles of water to wash up and paint with. Sunday came and with my husband we set off for Croston and arrived there midday to set up outside in the Crofter Arboretum yes outside in the open air in a lovely setting with daffodils everywhere and blossom on the trees and not forgetting the big black clouds above. No rain for about a week or more and today it had to forecast 70 chance of rain great Here is Fired 4 U set up in this lovely surrounding with a make shift paint station on the curb by the out door class room you can see over on ... 2010-4-26 19:45:45 http://www.fired4u.co.uk/page31.htm#63509 On Monday 19th April I had lots of fun in the afternoon with the Mums and toddlers group at Clayton Brook run by Home start. I am a member of the South Ribble Arts Forum and they are holding a big event for families on May Day Bank Holiday Monday 3rd May. To encourage people to go to the event they are doing arty crafty sessions with different local groups to encourage them to visit the event its self. My brief to make some May Day bunting with the group children age few weeks to 5 years Theres a challenge in itself with such a wide age range. There could be 1530 children attending and you have about an hour and twenty mins to work with them before they change activities So there was another challenge. So after racking my brain and waiting for inspiration to strike I came up with plain white bunting and hand prints done with fabric paint then paint the group name and logo along the bottom of the bunting putting a letter in each point. I bought the bunting as I didnt have time to ma... 2010-4-21 15:30:09 http://www.fired4u.co.uk/page31.htm#62978 Tara of httpstickyfingers1.blogspot.com is running a blog Gallery and this week the subject to write about is JOY. This is my joy my customers pottery having been glazed now waiting to be fired and read on why this brings me joy Last week was full of Joy for me it all came from my customers being amazed at their achievements or enjoying the new experience. On Good Friday a family came in for the first time mum dad daughter and baby of 19 months they came back last Friday to collect the finished pottery. Mum couldnt believe how lovely her daughters plate was and was blown away by the Easter bunny painted by her youngest and thanked me profusely. I only gave direction and glazed it but the joy on her face was thanks enough. We had a group of children in each day supported by Mosaic community care the children are mostly autistic to varying degrees or have sight or hearing difficulties. I cant name them but A arrived not wishing to stay on Wednesday as he doesnt like unfamili... 2010-4-13 22:23:07 http://www.fired4u.co.uk/page31.htm#61374 Back in January just after the snow had gone I went down stairs for Breakfast to find a black envelope on the door mat with silver writing all over it Mmm I thought maybe a party invite On opening it I was shocked to find it was an invitation to a Silver Wedding Isnt that what your parents go to or does this mean Im a little bit older than I think I am After this age shock wake up call early in the morning I thought ooh what to give as a present being the anniversary of my husbands cousin and his wife I thought to paint a gift would be appropriate being as I am Fired 4 U after all. Now as we sadly dont get home to the north east very often whilst I thought about a signature plate a plate signed by your friends and family with their kind thoughts and a personalised design in the centre I thought not practical as it could be another year before they get it back to them Various other ideas flew through my head but I have to say I kept coming back to the signature plate idea. My husband Bo... 2010-3-25 10:56:00 http://www.fired4u.co.uk/page31.htm#60305 I find the way in which we function and view the role art in our lives very interesting. You will have heard people talk about the right and left side of the brain and how this determines how you function. The right side of the brain controls your left side of your body and vice versa but it is also the more creative thinking side of the brain too. This doesnt mean you are more arty than others if your right side is more dominant it just means you have a more creative approach to life and your interpret colours and patterns in a different way to those who use the right side of their brain more. Take this test and see which side of your brain is dominant and see if the traits it shows are true are not you have to answer the questions honestly and quickly to get a true result. httpwww.wherecreativitygoestoschool.comvancouverleftrightrbtest.htm My results was that I use my right side 55 of the time and my left 45 of the time I have learnt to move from one side to the other depending ... 2010-3-11 11:29:43 http://www.fired4u.co.uk/page31.htm#59935 Hello My name is Sarah and I blog over at The Fifth Street Palace as well as The Fifth Street Academy. Jane has graciously let me take over her blog today with a fun tshirt stenciling tutorial. So with out further ado here we go Materials tshirt printer freezer paper you can purchase it from amazon or some craft shops exacto knife cutting surface fabric paint sponge brush card stock iron Step 1 Choose an image that will not be too difficult to cut and print it onto the dull side of the freezer paper. Step 2 Cut out the black parts using the exacto knife. Be sure you have a cutting surface underneath so you dont cut your table. Your stencil should now look like this. Step 3 Plave the stencil shiny side down on your tshirt and iron. Step 4 Squirt a dab of paint onto a sponge brush. Step 5 Quite liberally fill in the stencil with paint. Yes I did get a little on the edge. I ended up stenciling 2 butterflies to cover up my mistake. Ste... 2010-3-7 00:02:52 http://www.fired4u.co.uk/page31.htm#59933 Hi I have been exploring Twitter and found a tweet asking for people to sign up to swop a blog for a day and be a guest on your blog. So I was paired up with Sarah Scott www.sarahlscott.blogspot.com she lives in canada with her family and has a passion for crafts and keeping fit. Look out for her tutorial on T Shirt painting 2010-3-6 23:46:34 http://www.fired4u.co.uk/page31.htm#59717 I was born in Corbridge and grew up in Northumberland in a family home surrounded by arty crafty influences. Both parents were very creative and even went to pottery evening classes when I was very young Art always featured somewhere in our days whether it be play early on on the clarty table my brother and I could make as much mess as we wanted as long as it was on our little table which Dad made us known as the clarty table or sketching what we saw on holiday and always only because we wanted to. At school I hadnt a clue what I wanted to do and when choosing my O levels art and textiles were pushed out to make way for French as it was important to have a language in your choices back then. Little did I know what I would end up doing many years later So eventually I went to Huddersfield Polytechnic as after working in the local hotel in my village I decided a carer in hotel management was going to be my thing. Left poly had various jobs all over the place and loved them all. Joined... 2010-3-3 21:08:48